Win Worst-Case Scenario Guides, Cats & Dogs
November 22, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Contests, Pets
How do you deal with a bossy cat or remove skunk odors from your dog?
If you need to know that and more, enter this contest to win a copy of the newly released Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: Cats.
The winner will also receive a copy of Worst-Case Scenario Pocket Guide: Dogs, which was just released this April.
Both books are hardcover pocket guides for cats, dogs and their lucky owners. The pet guides are co-written by David Borgenicht, creator and co-author of all books in the Worst-Case Scenario series.
If you’re a person who likes to be prepared, you might also enjoy the Worst-Case Scenario blog. A recent post written by Jeff covers How to Kitten-Proof Your Home. Really? That’s possible!?
To enter the contest: Leave a comment on this post describing a tricky situation you’ve been in with your cat or dog. If you haven’t been in one of those, lucky you! Just tell us about your pet.
To be eligible to win, you must leave a comment before 11pm CST on Tuesday, December 8 and have a US mailing address. The winner will have five days to answer my request for a mailing address, so please triple check your spam filter on Dec. 9.
Update: Congratulations to the winner, B. Lerner!
(Images via Chronicle Books)
My girlfriend & I brought out our 1 year old feral cat on her harness & leash for a test run at night time, but she was so terrified that she struggled and forced us to drop her from our arms before we made it out the door.
It took a second to realize that she had slipped out of her harness in the process and she bolted into the darkness. We had only had her for a week and didn’t know what to do, but luckily she made a u-turn and ran toward our neighbors’ apartment.
We knocked on the door and she ran inside once our confused neighbors opened the door and I ran inside and asked them to shut the door behind me.
It all worked out, but we learned our lesson! Daytime adventures only. And with a tight harness!
I remember when a skunk sprayed my dog. It would have helped to have this book handy.
Luckily we haven’t had a worst case scenario yet… but our dog is family, and I would love this book to keep him safe!
Our worst case scenario occurred when our cat’s bladder became permanently blocked. He was only 18 months old at the time, and money was tight. But we decided to give up many other things ( no vacations for all these years) and save his life. They removed his male parts, but he is still very masculine. And he’s alive. It’s been over 4 years now and he is healthy and happy and giving us joy every day.
We have one cat and four dogs. What tricky situation have we NOT been in? Everything from “There will be no dinner because the dogs stole our frozen pot roast” to “I have your dogs. Will you please come get them?” to “He might be a big dog, but he’s an even bigger chicken.” Yes, almost every day is a tricky situation with our menagerie!
My worst case scenario involved my sheltie mix, who for years had never been interested in any of my houseplants, chewing several leaves off a peace lily while I was out of the room for a moment.
I returned to find her repeatedly vomiting on my cream carpet while walking through the living room, foaming at the mouth, and shaking her head & moving her tongue as if trying to get something out.I saw the shredded leaves on the lily, wiped what I could out of her mouth, & immediately took her – vomiting the whole way – to the vet who gave her charcoal. Fortunately, she was fine once they were out of her system.
Moral to the story:
1) never say never (as in she won’t eat that!) when it comes to a pet;
2) learn which plants are harmful to dogs or cats (ASPCA plant list is great; have the ASPCA poison control hotline #). The peace lily, aka spathiphyllum, contains calcium oxalate crystals that when chewed causes burning, swelling, & severe irritation (described like chewing glass).
3) Previously scotchguarding my carpet was worth every penny!
I don’t have any pets yet, but we won’t a buy a little cute dog this week.
I would love to win this! What sticky situations haven’t my dogs and cats been in? LOL! My bullie, Lumpy, had to have four root canals because he used to pull off the metal welds that held his metal kennel together. He has eaten through the wall to the plumbing and pulled the molding off of the door in our 1/2 bathroom. It is a good thing he is so cute! Our pack also ate our mototcycle…everything except for the tires and frame. We love our bad dogs!
My tabby boy once ate the contents of a “DO NOT EAT” silica gel pack – eeeeek! Fortunately, a call to the ASPCA Poison Control line (worth every comforting penny it cost) reassured me that the worst that might happen would be vomiting. (Happily, even that didn’t happen.)
We’re going through a sticky situation right now. We have a 7 yr-old cat & about 4 months ago brought home a kitten. We did all the things they say to do (isolate the new cat, introduce them gradually, etc.), but our original cat is miserable. And the new cat is a biter. And now he’s peed twice in a bed. And I’m at my wit’s end.
Right now I’m in a tricky situation of sorts – I am trying to housebreak my new border collie puppy! We adopted her from a shelter so we don’t know exactly how old she is, which is making it somewhat of a challenge in that I can’t determine if she is just being difficult to train, or if she simply doesn’t have the muscle/organ control yet to be able to train.
I have never had one of those situations and hope I never do. I have a Golden Retriever and he sheds so much I could make another dog out of the collected hair i clean off of the rugs
jason(at)allworldautomotive(dot)com
I have had our huge lab drag me across the yard when chasing a cat
When I was a teenager I was housesitting and dogwatching for some people who lived way out in the country. Their St. Bernard came home after being attacked by a porcupine. I spent an evening pulling quills out with pliers-the dog was an angel and didn’t even whimper.
smchester at gmail dot com
i had 4 fur babies at the time, and a fire erupted in my house, i grabbed the dogs and ran out when one broke lose and ran into the house, i thought he was a goner until he came out toting his food dish a huge one that the four of them ate out of!!! i guess we all have our priorities thanks minsthins at optonline dot net
My husband and I rescue dogs, particularly West Highland terriers, which are pure white. Being a terrier, the one we have now also likes to dig in our big often-muddy yard. She is too heavy for me to pick up (post back surgery), so I am often in a quandary when she wants to come in. When the yard is wet, I must leave a bucket & towel by the back door & give her a footbath (lol) until I get her inside & can clean her up. She has a nose for trouble and is always getting in trouble by being very nosy! I’m sure we could make use of this book in so many ways. Thank you very much!
During a walk, my pup Zeus zoned in on something on the ground, and before I knew it, he’d eaten someone’s thrown-away sandwich wrapped in paper AND foil. I actually had my hand in his mouth, trying fruitlessly to pull it out in a panic.
Luckily, he threw it up before we made it to the vet. But I learned my lesson: watch my boy like a hawk at all times!
Thanks!
My dog got out one morning and I had to chase him down the street. He loves to run out in front of cars so I was really panicked. He ended up seeing another dog and turned around. I tried to turn around and I fell and skinned my knee. He came over and I had to sit on top of him until my neighbor came running with a leash.
My cat escape outside one day and we couldn’t find her until the neighbor found her in his shed and she was all scaird.
Taffy was our family’s loving golden retriever.
My idiot ex boyfriend gave my then 1 pound chihuahua puppy salsa. I ended up in the doggy er as he threw up and got too dehydrated from it.
Currently in my househousehold I have my 2 dogs & 2 cats, a foster puppy, and my daughter’s 2 dogs. My worst case scenerio happened one day when my husband & I took our 205 lb great dane and a little baby foster puppy to the park for a walk. Coming down a straightaway, here came a feisty little jack russell terrier. Thinking trouble might be brewing with our dane, my husband made him lay down until the JR passed us. My eyes were glued on the dane – meanwhile, as he passed by us, the JR had reached out and bit our foster pup’s nose. His mistress grabbed him up in her arms and there was our little pup hanging by his nose from the Jack Russell’s jaws! It was all so unexcepted that no one knew quite what to do! Everything turned out okay as that weekend, the pup was adopted – scab on the nose & all!
i have a chi, skippy, and he is so little, but full of attitude towards most of our neughbors. i swear that when he barks he thinks that he is the size of a husky.
So far the worst has been trying to chase down our cat Nobby as he hauls off down the hallway full speed with one of my daughter’s boots. So much fun chasing the furry all over the house. Thanks for the contest!
Years ago, I had my cat, Angie spayed. But the vet was sort of gluing insteaad of stitching. I had to leave her bandage on for 3 days, then I took it off. In the morning, she was lying in her bed purring, with her intestines hanging out. I picked her up, bed and all, and rushed her to the vet, who fixed her back up. A couple years later, the same thing happened to my friend, who has heart trouble, when she had a cat spayed. But that one had been walking around dragging her intestines on the floor and in the litter boxes. It was Sunday and the vet was closed, so we had to load up and drive 25 miles to another vet who was on emergency call. I got the job of holding her intestines in place with a wet paper towel so they wouldn’t dry out, which he said would kill her. On the phone they said try pushing them back in, but I didn’t for fear of hurting something. She had to stay a week, but turned out ok, too.
One of my cats is over weight, ok obese, and she has this tendency to try to go outside, escape. She actually made it once and I drove all over the neighborhood, all night, searching for her. She was terrified when she finally showed up on the doorstep the next day. She just isn’t a self-sufficient type.
Thank you.
My puppy ate a 3 lb bag of dog food and had a stomach as big as a football. We called the vet who tol dus not to feed or give her water and give her pepto
We had a dog with a behavioral problem! But thank goodness we had Cesar Milan- his techniques have actually done wonders with him!
I have had my Lab Zeke chase after my horses. Bad idea trying to stop that.
mightynaynay(at)cs.com
Our dog is 3 years old. Luckily we have not had a worse case scenario. But our dog does eat stuff she shouldn’t and throws up on my carpet. Good thing she is the most adorable dog. Thanks for the chance to win the books.
I have a very cute and adorable cat.
I don’t really have a sticky situation but my cat always chews holes in my socks if I’m folding clothes and let them out for some reason (phone or door interruption, etc.)
Gosh, which story to tell?! I’ve had two cats that had heart attacks. I have a diabetic cat on insulin who acted very freaky when his blood sugar dipped dangerously low. As Hurricane Ivan was headed this way, we were evacuating and one of our cats almost got loose and in the process of containing her, I got a really bad bite. We’ve been through a lot, but with nine cats, I would still enjoy having an emergency handbook around, just in case. If you pick me, you can choose someone else to get the dog book. Hubby’s allergic.
We traveled cross country with 4 cats and a dog in our car. That was tricky!
We have two Shih Tzus. They are always challenging other dogs. Our neighbor has two pit bulls. i have found myself between the dogs but the worst-case scenario didn’t happen.
I don’t have a story but I do like to be prepared.
I named my cat after the cat on the simpsons
Took my pup for a walk around a pond in a park in Florida…an alligator charged out of the water at him; I was sure he was going to be gator-bait but he managed to move fast and outrun the gator. I have to confess I was so scared I could not move and I could never have saved him. That gator scared me to death!
My dog ran into the woods after a raccoon. It attacked him
( He was so scared that he never wanted to go out